Many youngsters are interested in improving their skills in hitting a baseball. Because of this, machines have been provided on a commercial basis for pitching balls to a batter. The batter positions himself or herself in a batting cage and the machine then transmits a plurality of balls in sequence to the batter. The batter pays for this by inserting coins into a coin box or by paying a cashier.
There are at least three (3) problems with the arrangement described in the previous paragraph. One problem is that the batter cannot control when successive balls are propelled to the batter by the pitching machine. Another problem is that the batter has to travel to the site of the pitching machine, this being an inconvenience to the batter. A third disadvantage is that the pitching machines propel the balls at a high velocity toward the batter. This may be advantageous to teenagers and adults but it is not advantageous to pre-teenagers.
This invention provides an apparatus for overcoming the disadvantages discussed in the previous paragraph. The apparatus of this invention provides for control by an individual (e.g. a batter) at times when a machine propels an element (e.g. a ball) for operation of a member (e.g. a bat) by the individual (e.g. batter). The apparatus of this invention is portable even by pre-teenagers so that the individual operating the member (e.g. the bat) can practice anywhere including the individual""s backyard or a friend""s backyard. The apparatus of this invention is especially designed to be used by pre-teenagers.
Although a pitching machine is shown in the drawings to be a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be appreciated by persons of ordinary skill in the art that other embodiments are within the scope of the invention. For example, the apparatus of this invention can be adapted to propel hockey pucks to a player holding a hockey stick or to propel lacrosse balls to a player holding a lacrosse stick.
In one embodiment of the invention, a member (e.g. baseball bat) includes a switch manually operable to obtain the transmission of signals by a transmitter in the member to an apparatus for propelling an element (e.g. ball) toward an individual holding the member. The apparatus propels the element upon the receipt of the transmitted signals and prepares for a next ball in the apparatus to be propelled upon a receipt of a subsequent signal from the transmitter.
The element is propelled by the propulsion mechanism in the apparatus toward the individual holding the member so that the individual can practice receiving the element (e.g. hitting the ball).